Muro: New Drawing App From DeviantART

Earlier this month DeviantART released a new online drawing app called Muro. The app is HTML5 based, so you can draw with it on your laptop and desktop, and you can also use it on those popular mobile devices which don’t support Flash (specifically thinking of the iPad here).

You can see the browser based interface below which is pretty straightforward. Users can choose from a number of brushes, colours and gradients to paint with. The application includes layers and opacity settings making it much easier to create your masterpiece. The basic drawing tools include draw, eraser, flood fill, eye dropper, color wheel tools supports opacity , size, softness , threshold and effect options. There are a number of filters which include blurring, sharpening, darkening, lightening and desaturation. The application is free for both “basic” and “pro” modes. The main difference that I could see between these modes is that in Pro mode you can see a Navigator or Zoom palette and a Layers palette.

Muro is directly integrated with DeviantART so if you’re a member as soon as you’ve created something it can be added to your portfolio. The plan from DeviantART is to continue developing the application over time. If you enjoy drawing programs, this one is very easy to use and has some very nice brush effects. If you own a Wacom tablet you can download a free plugin.

Muro is not a threat to Photoshop just yet. It is probably more closely akin to Aviary, which is also free but has more features. These types of applications will probably become very useful for designers and artists in the coming years.